X4: Revelations
by Firecracker-SJ
Summary: In a top secret facility a weapon is about to be demonstrated to a high ranking General. The project helmed by a man called Mr. Sinister becomes horrifying as the weapon turns out to be a young girl. Warnings: Mentions of torture. Character 'death'. Gore.
1. Prologue: The Weapon

**AN: **This is a kind of weird little story that has been running around my head for some time, but which I never felt confident writing down. **  
**

So basically, this is the prologue/pre-credit sequence of a possible 4th X-men movie. I love those movies, but the 3rd basically screwed us over and it seems like the only way to go now is to reboot or follow the First Class continuity.

Except it's not, at least I don't think so. This story might actually 'fix' what the 3rd movie broke: as in bring Scott and Jean back, give Rogue her powers again (and maybe get her to take Miss Marvels powers as well), bring in Gambit (who isn't 60 or something if we go by Wolverine Origins) and you know, bring in a villains that aren't either Magneto or some mutant hater all by introducing one person who can do all this and more: Mister Sinister.

I might add some chapters later, with other key scenes that would be cool, but I am not sure yet on how I am going to do that, so for now this is it. At the bottom of the page I'll post some random trivia, cause I threw in some references to the movies and the cartoon tv show.

**Warning**: This is turns **very** dark. Mentioning of brainwashing and torture. A somewhat gory description of character 'death'.

* * *

**X-4. Revelations. Prologue.**

To say that the research facility was dreadful was probably the understatement of the year. General Sortz wasn't an easily frightened nor a superstitious man, but even he had to admit that the place felt somehow haunted.

Beside him is aide seemed to feel it to, seeing as he wouldn't stop fiddling with is tie and cleared his throat numerous times. Finally, as they almost reached the lab, he spoke up.

"Sir, for the last time, I must protest against our presence here. If anyone were to find out, after last time ... think of the outrage."

Sortz snorted at the idea alone. "This is a beyond top secret facility. Not even the damn NSA knows this exists." He himself had only been informed of it's presence a month ago and only now been allowed to enter the facility.

"Perhaps, but sir, I have been over the files, last time we gave these people free reign ..."

"They created a weapon." Sortz interrupted.

"Yes, sir." The aide sighed. "They did."

The meaning behind his words were left hanging in the air, but Sortz knew exactly what his aide meant. He had read the files as well.

"They will not fail us again." He sounded more sure then he felt.

* * *

The lab was something straight out of a torture movie. Sortz dared not look at some of the machines lest he could imagine what would have happened to whatever poor soul that had been strapped into them. As long as he did not know, he would not have to claim responsibility for the experiments.

Personnel were running around making the final preparations for the demonstrations as he took his place at the observation platform.

Bolivar Trask only greeted him curtly, before going back to his work. Storz didn't like the man, he reminded him too much of a mad scientist creating things man had no business in creating. But that was why he was valuable to the project, whatever machine the doctors needed, he could create.

The atmosphere in the lab was starting to get to him and the General found himself grow as anxious as his aide.

A weapon, he told himself, they needed a weapon no matter what the cost. The mutant menace called Magneto might have disappeared from the face of the earth, but numerous splinter cells had taken over his place. Mutant terrorists ran rampant in the country, not to mention anti-mutant militias who were gathering arms.

A war was brewing, bigger then any fight they had before. Sortz did not delude himself into thinking that humans could ever defeat the mutants, were they to rally behind a common cause. Only one incident and the entire thing could blow.

So they needed a weapon. What they were doing here, all these experiments, they were right, because they needed to defend their citizens. Even the playing field.

And yet he doubted.

* * *

One of the senior doctors approached the cage that occupied the center of the room. It was a big thing, build from bulletproof glass it seemed. Wires and machines were connected to it. Right now it was empty.

The doctor looked over his shoulder at the observation platform once. Sortz immediately disliked him. There was something about him that send chills down his spine. He was too pale, Sortz thought, something made even worse by the long dark hair that framed his face.

"Sinister." His aide commented, a tremor noticeable in his voice.

"Come again?"

"That's what the other personal are calling doctor Windsor behind his back. Mister Sinister. He's their head geneticist."

Sortz stared at the back of the mans head for a moment. He couldn't agree with the nickname more.

The doctor, finished with his preparations, made his way up to the observatory.

"We're ready, sir." This Sinister said to Trask, drawling out the words. From up close the man looked almost handsome, charming even. And yet there was something there in the way that he held himself and the way he smiled. As if he was in on some great secret joke.

Well, Sortz would not let any man unsettle him, especially not some smug looking doctor.

"Tell me doctor, what is your interest in this project?" Sortz asked bluntly. "Desperate for a chance to play God."

Sinister smiled at that and though it seemed impossible it made him seem even more handsome and terrifying.

"Play God? I wouldn't quite put it like that." He replied lightly.

"Then how would you put it?"

Another smug secret smile. "Getting prepared."

Something was happening in the back of the room and so Sortz turned his attention away from the doctor and his cryptic words, to behold the weapon he was promised being led into the cage.

"God have mercy on us all." His aide muttered in shock.

Sortz gasped, too stunned to say anything.

The cage door closed with a loud clang and some mechanism starting warming up, gears turning loudly and various buttons and lights started flashing.

"Isn't she a beauty?" Sinister asked sweetly.

"You son of a bitch."

* * *

Sortz tore his eyes away from the girl in the cage and focused his rage on the men around him.

"You monsters!" he yelled at both Sinister and Trask alike. "You sick bastards!"

"Oh don't act outraged, Stan." Trask barked back defensively. "You knew damn well the parameters of this project."

"Parameters? Last time it was a willing recruit! You have used a child!"

"She is not a child." Sinister said softly. "She was never a child, just a weapon."

Sortz had never wanted to punch anyone as much as he wanted to punch that smug bastard now.

"Perhaps this demonstration will convince you." Sinister added and he nodded to an assistant who flicked a switch."

"What are you going to do?" Sortz asked.

"Behold." Sinister responded with a dramatic gesture towards the cage."a new super soldier. Trained from birth in the art of killing, equipped with superhuman senses and, in one word ..."

Metal panels slid down the sides of the cage, leaving only the glass wall that faced the observatory free.

The girl, who Sortz realized with a sick feeling, couldn't be a day over sixteen, seemed to notice something was amiss. She took a defensive stance, glancing over her shoulder at the back of the cage, with her hands balled into fists.

The metal of the cage turned red hot and the girl turned back to face them, her unkempt hair sweeping around her. She looked more animal then girl now, fear clear on her face.

"... indestructible."

The girl screamed soundlessly as she threw herself at the glass window. Kicking, screaming, clawing. Three claws each extruded from the girls hands, but they were useless against the glass.

His aid dropped the clipboard he was holding.

"Good God, a furnace. You've put her in a furnace!" He screeched.

Her hair caught fire first and then the flames were upon her. Sortz could do nothing but scream.

"Shut it off! Shut it off!" his aid yelled and Sortz jumped forward, grabbing Sinister by the throat.

"Shut if off!" He screamed in the mans face.

Even now he was perfectly calm and he just nodded to the assistant who flicked the switch again.

The flames died down and Sortz stared with wide eyes as the remains of the girl crumbled to the floor. Bile rose up in the back of his throat. Sixteen, his daughter's age. What had they done? What had he done?

"You killed her." He rasped, still holding Sinister in a vice like grip that did not seem to bother the doctor.

And he just smiled.

"We've poisoned her. Shot her, strangled her. Stoning, drowning, anything you can imagine, we have done to her." Trask boasted loudly.

"She cannot age, get sick, nor die." Sinister drawled. "She can only kill."

"You crazy ..."

"Sir!" His aide interrupted, pointing back at the cage. Sortz followed his gaze and promptly let go of Sinister.

Slowly, but steadily, against all logic or hope, the girl was healing. Bones regrew, muscle and sinew repaired themselves and finally even skin, hair and eyes healed perfectly. And when those eyes opened, the girl screamed.

"A new, better Weapon X." Trask murmured. "One to our bidding. Win out wars."

"And to prepare us for the days of Apocalypse." Sinister added.

* * *

**AN: **So yeah, this is the set up for a fourth movie. Of course the girl escapes. Mr. Sinister becomes the main antagonist. And the X-men have to deal with violent anti-mutant protesters, new friends, old friends returning from the dead and more.

On to the trivia:

The girl in the cage is of course X-23, Wolverines clone.

Bolivar Trask is actually the creator of the Sentinels, which is how I remember him from the tv-show, but I figured it'd be a cool cameo to make him a part of the Weapon X program and an engineer for whatever machine Sinister wants build.

The previous experiment the aide mentions in the beginning refers to both Wolverine's adamantium experiment and the Deadpool crap from Origins.

Sinister uses the false name of Robert Windsor, which he also used in the comics when he dabbled into mad scientistry.

And finally Sinister of course doesn't mean the Christian Apocalypse, but the ancient all powerful mutant.


	2. Chapter 1: The Test

**AN: **Sorry that this took like forever. It was a combination of laziness and re-writing this chapter a dozen times that did me in. I tried a few different point of views for this chapter and none of them satisfied me, till I finally found the right one.

So here is the next chapter. Warning: Contains allusions to the torture and numerous murders of a child and character death.

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Test.**

The bright lights of her cell seemed to burn into her skull and the sensation only helped to remind her of the presentation earlier that day. She struggled to bury that memory, to lock it away in the deep dark recesses of her mind along with so many other horrible things she never wished to remember.

She still felt woozy, soft, vulnerable and exposed, the side effect of whatever tranquilizer they had pumped into her after they had shut the machine, _oven, it had been an oven, _off. The drug was still in her system and it made it hard, hard to forget, hard to fight against the memories that were still brimming at the surface.

It had been worse then drowning, worse then getting shot or getting stabbed.

The fire, the agony, the panic. Realizing that despite all her strength, all her powers and skill, there was nothing she could do. There was no escape, no target to take down, no enemy to kill. There was nothing she could do, but stand there and _burn. _

She tossed and turned in her cot, her limbs too heavy, her movements clumsy. The memories kept coming.

The fire. The pain. Men screaming in the observatory, though she couldn't hear them. Him, watching her, smiling down at her like a proud teacher.

There had been a moment, a piece of calm in her panic, a moment of ice that blocked out the fire and she thought, _she hoped, she prayed,_ that that was it. That she was going to finally die.

It had been almost painless, slipping into the darkness. Painless and calm. A warm embrace, not scorching hot like the fire, but comfortable and like something she had never felt before. Peaceful. It had been oh so peaceful.

But she had awoken once more, the pain of reconstruction almost as bad as the fire before.

She struck down three men before she could subdue her, breaking off one of her bone claws in the process. But that didn't mater, it would just grow back. She would aways just grow back.

There was no escape. No warm embrace. No peace.

She let her tiredness and the drugs overtake her and when she dreamed, she dreamed of fire.

* * *

But she wasn't alone this time. _He _was there with her. Not the doctor with the eyes that reddened when no one but her was looking, the other one.

They had tried to make her as unfeeling as a gun, a weapon with no emotions, no thoughts of her own and while they had exceeded in so many ways, they could not take away her hate. Not for the doctor who tortured her and never, not in a million years, for _him._

There was fire and he burned with her.

_Good. _She thought. _You deserve this. You, not me._

But he tried to escape, tried to break free from their fiery graves, And she saw that could climb out too. Climb out and be free. But that would mean letting him go as well. So she wrapped her arms around him, pulled him back down to their deaths. It was for the best. They both had to die. That was the only freedom there was for her.

* * *

This was the third night in a row that Johnson had to stand guard outside the girl's, _the weapon _she corrected herself, cell. Beside her it looked like Nickels was about to fall asleep. He let out a great big yawn and leaned carelessly against the wall.

"You heard what it did at the lab this morning?" he asked and as always the fact that everyone called the girl ... the weapon, it, made her feel somehow uncomfortable.

"Yeah." She replied curtly. She had never been gladder to have been covering nights then when she read the rapport on what happened. She could have been the one who had her throat ripped out, or have a claw stuck in her sternum. Only one of those guards survived and he was still in a coma.

"I'm just sayin', I'm glad that it's on our side." Nickels replied, stupidly as ever.

It didn't matter how much they brainwashed the kid ... weapon, or how many training sessions they put her thought. After what they did to her, she would never be on their side.

A door slid open and Johnson straightened up immediately. Nickels didn't even bother.

She couldn't help but shiver when she saw the doctor enter the hall and she quickly looked away as not to have to stare into his eyes. Sinister was a too kind of a name as far as she was concerned.

"Good evening." He called out pleasantly, as he walked up to them, peering past them at the cell and it's occupant. "Any activity?" he asked.

"She has been tossing and turning for an hour now. Woke up a few times, a few seconds only." Johnson reported.

This seemed to please the doctor and he turned back to face them.

"Good, that means she'll be ready soon." The smile on his face only seemed to make him look even more sinister instead of charming. It reminded Johnson too much of some kinda of predatory animal.

"Ready for what?" Nickels asked bluntly, always ready stick his nose in other people's business. He stared at the doctor with half lidded eyes, clearly already half asleep.

"A test." Sinister grinned.

"Another one, so soon." Johnson blurted out without really meaning to. It wasn't up to her what happened to the experiments in this place.

"The final test." Sinister drawled.

And then, without so much of a warning, the doctor swung his arm out in a swift movement. Something flashed from his hand, too quick for her to see and next thing she knew it hit Nickels right in the throat, cutting off the profanity he was about the scream.

She had no time to react, to think about what was happening, but her experience with guarding the weapon had taught her to go with her instincts when in danger, to react immediately. She had already unclipped and drawn her handgun when Nickels dead body slid to the floor and the doc turn to face her.

Her eyes were not drawn to the knife he held delicately in his hand, but to his face, his horrible face and his horrible eyes. In the fluorescent light of the hallway they gleamed undeniably red.

"Drop it!" she yelled, her finger on the trigger as panic threatened to overtake her.

But Sinister just smiled that smile, all teeth and malice.

She fired. He threw.

There was a moment, a second only. When they both still stood and she could swear that his eyes turned even redder and all his humanity seemed to melt away and all that was left was pure evil. Then she slid down and the only sound she could make was a wet gurgle as she spit up the blood that was filling her mouth and throat.

Even though she knew it was hopeless she reached for her walkie, but Sinister snatched it away from her.

"Not yet." He whispered.

The pain wasn't that bad, but her eyelids were starting to droop and it was hard to fight against the tiredness that overcame her.

Sinister got up and keyed in his code into the cell door. It slid open soundlessly. Any other time she would have startled at the sight of _her_, the weapon, standing in the door opening, so close she could almost touch her, but Johnson didn't have any energy left for that. For a moment their eyes met and she shuddered at the emptiness behind the girl's eyes.

The girl didn't look at her like any person would, were they face with a dying human being. There was no empathy in those eyes, no shock, no concern. Her eyes were cold, calculating. One target down, one to go, they seemed to say.

And sure enough the girl stepped back, sliding effortlessly into a defensive stance, her fists clenched and raised.

Johnson prayed for the girl to strike, for her to rip Sinister to pieces. It would be justice, for her and Nickels and for the girl herself. _Go on_, she wanted to say, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was blood.

"I'm not your enemy, sweetheart. Not right now." Sinister drawled, looking completely unconcerned about the fact that he was facing the girl singlehandedly.

"Then what?" The girl growled.

She had never heard the girl speak before and Johnson was surprised by just how normal, how young she sounded. Slowly her eyes started to close, no matter what she tried.

"An ally." She heard Sinister reply and she could practically hear the smirk in voice.

_Don't trust him. _She wanted to scream at the girl as the darkness closed in around her.

"I am setting you free." Sinister added.

"This is a test." The girl replied.

_The final test_, Johnson remembered. _Don't trust him. Kill him. Run. Run._

"Everything is. Escape this facility and you are free. I ask only one thing in return. Something I know you'll want to do regardless." His voice seemed to come from far away.

"What?"

"Kill ..."

_You bastard. _Johnson thought, the very last words that would ever cross her mind.


	3. Chapter 2: The Aftermath

**AN: **This is a very short chapter, but I felt like I needed it to bridge the events of the last chapter and the next. So you should treat it like an interlude.

This chapter marks the first 'appearance' of one of my favorite X-men characters, who just needed to be in this story. Next chapter we'll finally get to see some X-(wo)men, I promise.**  
**

**Warning: **Violence and minor gore.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Aftermath.**

Jagged rocks cut into her bare feet as she raced towards the cliffs end. She could already hear the ocean battering against the rocks, waves crashing and stones crumbling, though the sounds were nearly drowned out by the shrill siren that blasted from the compound behind her.

Her pursuers were far behind, but their bullets whirred past her frequently until finally one hit home. The force of the impact drove her to her knees and she clutched at her shoulder as she cried out in pain.

She allowed herself a mere moment of respite as her body was already working on pushing the bullet out. She focused on the ocean, the good cool ocean that was just a few more feet away.

She had never expected to make it this far. When the doctor released her she was sure that whatever test this was, it would end with her back in her cell. So when she fought her way to the surface, blood and sweat tinting her red, she had expected him to stand there, smirking away like he always did, an army of guards by his side ready to drag her back into her prison.

But all she had found were two guards, easily dispatched and then the cold night air. She had mate it to the gates when the siren started blaring and was over it and running when the first shots were fired.

She had no plan, no idea and what to do nest. She only ever known the compound, had only known grueling hours of training, tests and experiments. Anything else was unknown to her.

Except for one thing, one desire that was entirely her own and not an order given to her by the men in charge. The doctor asked her to, but he didn't have too. She would kill _Him, _it was the only thing that matter. The only thing that made her stand up and cross the last remaining feet to the cliffs end. More bullets cut into her flesh, but they did not stop her from taking that final step. And suddenly she was falling.

She missed the rocks, but the water from the height she jumped, was as unforgiving as concrete. Bones shattered and for a moment darkness reigned.

One though, one thing, one desire that kept her coming back. Her anchor in the stormy ocean, that kept her sane as the current pulled her under and she drowned and drowned again.

* * *

Up upon the cliff soldiers screamed orders at each other and a helicopter took flight trying to search the endless black ocean. Sinister watched from a distance, likening the spectacle to the behavior of ants, crawling franticly around their colony after their Queen has been taken.

He was alone for a moment, an eye of calm in the chaos of the girls escape. The crispness of the night air rejuvenated him and he took in a deep gulp of breath, the darkness hiding his smile. She did extremely well. She was not bred for intelligence, yet she possessed a cunning that made him feel almost proud. She was exactly what he wanted her to be. His perfect weapon.

His phone rang and Sinister turned his back on the mindless humans as he answered it.

"Yes?"

"The trackin' device is workin', boss." The man replied in his thick Cajun accent. "Vital signs are no good though. Up an' down an' up again."

"Nothing she can't handle. Contact me when she surfaces, we'll need to steer her in the right direction." Sinister replied.

"If you say so."

Sinister disliked the doubt he heard in his voice. That was something he would have to deal with after he was done with the government. For a thief Gambit had an excessive amount of morals.

"Send in the team. We're done here." Sinister ordered as he walked back to the facility.

"Malice and Scrambler are on route." Gambit confirmed.

When Sinister reached the compound again he could not suppress his smile. The game was afoot. And soon ... soon he would finally be ready for war,


	4. Chapter 3: Mall Rats

**AN: **Long time, no post. Sorry about that, I had a bit of a difficult period in my life there. Nothing too serious, it just made feel really blah about writing.

But now I am over that (I hope) and I am trying to push out as much work as I can. So here is the next installment in my X-4 series. This one is a bit different from the other chapters, some new but familiar POV characters and this chapter isn't that dark, so yay.

As always this is my vision of a fourth movie and how to fix all those things were I thought they were going wrong and me shoving in as many references to the old cartoon as I can.

**Warning: **Talk of canon character death.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Mall rats  
**

The mall was already bustling with people by the time they arrived and they could barely find a spot to park. Thankfully Kitty had found out that Rogue had an uncanny ability to squeeze the car in the most impossible looking spots, so she had let her drive.

As they got out Jubilee held the box containing her latest victim protectively against her chest and Kitty couldn't help but roll her eyes at that.

"They are not going to be able to fix that, you know." She tried for like the seventeenth time. She looked to Rogue for back up on this, but the other girl just shrugged indifferently.

It was still weird to her, seeing Rogue walking around without being covered in layers of clothing, though nothing was as weird as the 80's disaster phase Jubilee was currently going through. Kitty had no idea where you could even buy a yellow trench oat or big pink sunglasses, but she wouldn't be surprised if it was a shop owned by super fashion villains.

Jubilee pushed that pink monstrosity back into her hair and jutted her chin defiantly forward.

"You don't know that. This might not that badly damaged."

That drew a chuckle from Rogue. "Sugar, you fried that one good."

Jubilee pursed her lips at that and stalked towards the mall.

"Yeah, we're going to be stuck here for a while." Kitty sighed.

"Might as well do some shopping." Rogue added cheerfully. "I bet I can find the ugliest item."

"You're on." Kitty shot back, following her into the Mall.

* * *

Life at the Mansion had been weird for a while. With the Professor, Jean and Scott dead and Wolverine off to who knew where, it was like someone had punched a great big hole into all their lives.

The place that had once been the closest thing Rogue had to a home after running away suddenly felt cold and empty. She had felt like she hadn't belonged there anymore, not after getting the cure, abandoning the team when they needed her the most. But Storm had promised her that if she still wanted it, the Mansion would still be her home. Powers or no powers.

After the funerals, after months of emptiness where everyone kind of drifted past each other as if in a trance, things started happening. Kids started laughing again. Teasing each other as always. One sunny afternoon most of the older kids decided to play no power basketball. Of course someone cheated and then all bets were off. She had teamed up with Kitty to kick some ass and it had been fun. Actual, normal fun.

The Mansion became a home again, Storm their strict but caring mother and Hank their quite quirky uncle that checked up on them often.

The X-men were needed as always and with the help of old friends and new recruits they won many a battle. Despite being powerless Rogue found she could help, by piloting after a literal crash course from Hank and acting like central command now that the Professor wasn't there anymore to guide them telepathically.

It was like life had returned to them and Rogue embraced it gladly. Even if that did mean having to drive Jubilee to electronic repairmen every week or so and playing big sister to Theresa and Dani.

Kitty appeared beside her just as she was browsing through some racks of really gaudy jewelry. She showed her a pair of enormous earrings and they both giggled. This was now they favorite game to play, as they waited for Jubilee, finding the ugliest thing in a store.

Her relationship with Kitty had been a little strange over the past few months.

Rogue had taken the initiative and broken up with Bobby. She never forgot the way he had looked at Kitty that night in the fountain and even though she had been able to touch him after the cure, it hadn't been the same. Their love had dwindled and while it broke her heart, she had to cut him lose.

So yeah, it had been awkward after that, especially when the doofus actually got the hints Kitty had been dropping and he finally asked her out. But being the X-men, having done so much together, face so much danger, so much death, well it had made their bond too strong to be pulled apart by teenage love drama.

So while it might have stung and it might have taken her a month to be able to look Kitty in the eyes again, they became friends again. And that was good. It made Rogue feel like her old self again, the person she was before her touch could kill. Just a fun teenager.

Besides she was really starting to appreciate the fact that Peter worked out shirtless nearly every day.

Maybe it was a good thing that there weren't any more telepaths in the Mansion, because boy she could have made them blush.

* * *

Jubilee entered the store looking glum. Rogue already knew what she was going to say.

"It's dead?" Kitty asked sympathetically.

"As a doornail." Jubilee sighed.

Rogue exchanged a look with Kitty, who simply shrugged as if to say, hey what can we do about it.

Rogue touched Jubilees arm, which still felt weird to do, and gave her a sisterly look.

"You know what honey, Imma buy you a new one."

Jubilees face light up instantly.

"Really Rogue?"

"A cheap one, though."

One hug and a lot of OMGs later they were leaving the mall with a brand new dvd player and one very excited teenager and walked right into a group of anti mutant protesters beating up a kid.


	5. Chapter 4: Grab and Run

**AN: **We're almost getting the ball rolling here. Storylines are starting to converge. You'll see what I mean. **  
**

I am trying my best to write more and better chapters and I am striving to update at least once a week. Fingers crossed that I can keep that up. Now lets get some action up in this story.

**Warning:** Major violence, (anti mutant) bigotry, character death, some gore

* * *

**Chapter 4: Grab and Run.**

There were six of them. Big burly men, dressed in anti-mutant militia clothing. The mutant they were hurting was, well Rogue wasn't entirely sure just what it was. It looked like something out of one of those fantasy films Theresa loved to watch, like a goblin or a tree person or something. It lay on the ground, curled up into the ball to protect itself while the men attacked it.

As Kitty gasped, Rogue instinctively slid in front of Jubilee. Her heart started to race as all of her training started to rush back to her. They were outnumbered even with their powers. There were to targets she needed to protect, the mutant and Jubilee of course. Calling for back up would take too long. The only weapon Rogue had was the taser she carried in her purse.

Nobody else lifted so much as a finger to help. People hurried past, to their cars or into the mall, turning a blind eye to the violence in their midst. Even the mall security guard went back inside. Rogue wasn't sure if they were cowards or bigots, but in that moment she hated them all the same.

Kitty stepped forward and Rogue recognized that look in her eyes, she was ready to crack skulls. Rogue grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

"No." She warned softly, nodding towards Jubilee. They couldn't put her in danger. They were responsible for her.

Another anguished cry came from the mutant as the men dragged it back into their midst, continuing their assault. Kitty glared at her, her eyes ablaze with rage and alarm. Rogue tensed, looking over the situation once more. They couldn't do nothing. They had to step in.

"Jubilee, get in the car." She ordered, letting go of Kitty, who nodded in relieve.

"But Rogue, I can help!" Jubilee protested as she stuck her hands out as if to prove her power. But even if she had been in full control of her fireworks, Rogue still wouldn't have let her get involved.

"Get in the car." Kitty added, her face set grimly. "We'll deal with this."

"But Kitty!" Jubilee tried but Rogue cut her off.

"Just make sure we can leave when we need to." She said, tossing her the keys and praying that Beasts driving lessons had taken root in the girl's head.

When she finally disappeared into the parking lot Rogue took a deep breath and stepped forward, with Kitty by her side.

"You ready for a grab and run?" Kitty asked softly.

"I'm ready." Rogue replied, the taser already in her hand.

"Oi! Leave that kid alone!" She called out to the men.

"Fuck off!" One of them spat.

"It's just a mutant, none yer business." Another man, who reminded Rogue of a walking talking pig, yelled at them, spitting on the mutant to prove his point.

"Fuck mutants." Another added.

"She said, leave that kid alone." Kitty practically growled, a dangerous edge to her voice that even managed to frighten Rogue.

The man still seemed to think that this was a joke, but their attention was fully on them now. While it gave the mutant some respite, it just reminded Rogue of how out gunned they were and just for a moment, she wished she had her powers back.

"And what are you two bleeding hearts going to do about it, huh?" The walking pig asked, smiling, like this was all some kind of game.

Kitty looked her way and their eyes met. Rogue nodded, giving the signal.

Suddenly Kitty sprang forward, phasing right through the man who cried out in shock. She sprinted through the others, grabbed the stunned mutant and phased into the asphalt with him in a matter of seconds.

It happened so fast that the men could only cry out and gape. Rogue used that spare moment to aim and shoot. When the man went down, squealing like the pig he looked like she couldn't help put feel immensely satisfied to see him writhe in pain.

He was out of the equation, but the other five got their shit together and the one closest started to bum rush her. But Rogue had been trained by the best. She sprang aside, managing to grab his arm as he went past, using his own strength and speed to break his arm with a loud snap. He fell to the ground crying in pain.

Fireworks exploded in the parking lot behind her and Rogue took it as her cue to get going.

Running as fast as she could, sliding over the hoods of cars, she was almost where they were parked and she could see Kitty, Jubilee and the mutant standing in the distance. But one of the men who chased her was fast and suddenly he was there, tackling her to the ground. But Rogue was fast as well and she twisted her body, making sure he broke her fall, then rolling of and away from him.

Someone screamed her name in the distance but the blood was pumping so loudly in her ears that Rogue couldn't recognize their voice.

The man was getting up already and although stunned, Rogue did the same.

But then there was movement beside her and the man went down again. For a split second Rogue thought it was Kitty who had tackled the man, till she got a better look at the girl who took her attacker down. She was short and thin, to the point of looking starved. She wore filthy rags an her long dark hair looked twisted and matter. She looked like a starved feral animal, but the fought like a professional and she knocked the man out with a few blows. There was something familiar about the way she moved.

The girl jumped to her feet, still poised to fight. The other three men were upon them now and Rogue slid into a defensive stance herself as Kitty phased out of the ground beside her.

"You're all freaks as well!"One of them yelled and Rogue had to fight back all the nasty things she wanted to yell back.

"I'd leave now if I were you." Kitty called back.

The feral girl let out a menacing growl.

Two of them stepped back, their hands held up in surrender, but on of them stayed put. There was something about his stance that jumped out at Rogue, but she couldn't pinpoint why it frightened her, not until Kitty grabbed her.

"Gun!" She screamed and Rogue felt the rush of being phased along with Kitty.

It happened so fast after that. Rogue had barely time to respond before the man drew and shot. The feral girl never moved, not until the bullet hit her, spraying back blood and brains that luckily went right through her and Kitty. The girl fell back and Rogue screamed.

The other men were already running, but the shooter still stood there, grinning madly.

Kitty let go of her and Rogue felt herself go solid again, but she wasn't fast enough to stop her. Kitty sprinted forward and knocked the gun out of the shooters hand.

A beat later Jubilee stood beside her, clinging to her arm, freaking out.

"Oh my god. He shot her. He just shot her!" She cried out and Rogue could see the shock and confusion on her face.

The man didn't put up much of a fight and Kitty had him down on the ground within seconds. She bashed his head against the asphalt. Again. And again.

"Kitty." Rogue called out, jumping forward to stop her as Jubilee slid down besides the girl. "Don't." Was all she could muster to say. She could see Kitty shaking from rage, so much that she was involuntarily phasing in and out. She was losing it and Rogue had top stop her, because if she was afraid she would lose it as well.

"He killed her." Kitty said and she sounded more broken than angry.

And it is our fault. Was the underlying messaged in her anguish and it hit Rogue just as hard as it hit her. They provoked the group. They started the fight. And because of them, this girl who jumped in to save her was now dead. They were responsible and now she was dead. Bile started to rise in the back of Rogues throat.

Sirens started wailing in the distance and they snapped Rogue out of her thoughts long enough for her to jump to action. She grabbed Kitty by her shoulders and pulled her away from the man. Thankfully she didn't struggle. Jubilee was sitting by the girl, checking her pulse in some misguided attempt to help. She dropped the girls wrist and looked up with tears in her eyes.

"Come on sugar, we gotta bounce." Rogue said, pushing her inevitable breakdown back in favor of getting everyone out of there alive.

Jubilee got up and followed Kitty to the car. Rogue looked back the girl one last time, rage and grief and confusion all pressing down on her stomach, making her want to vomit.

"I'm so sorry." She told the girl. "I'm so so sorry."

And the girl sat up, gasping for air.


	6. Chapter 5: Debts

**AN: **Alright, first new chapter of the year! I am having a blast writing these, but it's difficult not to go of an tangents about backgrounds I've made up for characters. But I am trying. I also tried to type out a Cajun accent, like Gambit had in the cartoons, and well, I think you're going to use a little imagination there. I sprinkled in some Cajun words and expressions, but I felt like typing it out completely would just look and sound weird.

**Warning: **Some minor reference to medical experiments.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Debts.**

Rogue had obviously seen her fair share of impossible things, living with mutants that had powers beyond even her wildest dreams. But that didn't mean there weren't still things that shocked her, rattled her to her very core. And people coming back from the dead, no matter how often she had seen it happen, was definitely still one of those.

She nearly jumped a foot in the air as the girl sat up, the bullet that had been lodged into her brain clanging harmlessly to the ground.

The girl got to her feet as Rogue tried to pull herself together, to get her brain to believe what her eyes were seeing. The girl was alive and she was healing in an all too familiar way. Maybe that was what made her stall just for a moment longer, the fact that the girl healed in the exact same way that Logan did.

But the sirens she had been worrying about only a moment ago pulled her out of her haze and Rogue knew she had to move fast. So she jumped forward and grabbed the girl by her skinny arm.

"Come on. We gotta move." She practically yelled, adrenaline still coarsing through her body. Getting caught by the police, even though they did nothing wrong, was not an option.

The girl face her a weird look and for a moment Rogue was sure she was going to kick her ass. But the girl didn't yank her arm away and she nodded, allowing Rogue to guide her to the car.

Kitty was already sitting in the driving seat, thankfully, the car already started and ready to go. Jubilee sat beside her and she let out a strangled sort of noise as Rogue pushed the girl into the backseat and closed the door behind her.

"Oh my God! But she was .. I felt her pulse!" Jubilee exclaimed almost tripping over her words.

"She pulled a Wolverine. It's okay. Now. Drive!" Rogue barked at Kitty, since there really was no time for explanations.

Kitty nodded once and got them out of the parking lot and they were lost in the crowd on the road in no time. Only then did Rogue sit back, slumming in her seat. She was sweating like a sinner in church and her breaths were still shallow.

"Dang." She sighed.

The girl sat quietly beside her, her eyes darting between all of them. There was something methodical about it. As if she was trying to survey all of them, calculating the risk. But there was no emotion behind it, no fear of getting into a car with three strange mutants, no anger for having gotten shot on their behalf. No nothing.

Jubilee hung over her seat, staring back at them with big eyes while Kitty glanced back in the rear view mirror from time to time, her face set grimly. They sat in silence like that, till finally Jubilee seemed not to be able to take it any longer.

"So, she pulled a Wolverine? I didn't know other people could do that." Jubilee said, in awe.

Rogue saw the girl tense at that comment and she wondered why.

"Yeah, she did. I don't know how." She replied even though it wasn't the truth. Mutations repeated themselves frequently and she could name two other mutants with similar healing factors. But that probably wasn't a conversation to have now and Rogue felt too worn out to bring it up. So she turned to the girl and she was once again struck by just how vulnerable she looked. She was all skin and bones and the rags she wore were now covered in blood as well as dirt. It reminded her of ghost from one of those Japanese movies.

"Thank you, for saving me." She said, not really sure on what else she could say. This girl jumped into a fight for her, got shot, lived and seemed to be perfectly alright with that. "I'm Rogue. This is Kitty and that's Jubilee."

The girl only replied with silence, looking them all over once, before glancing back at her again.

"Is there somewhere we can take you. Home, maybe?" Kitty asked from the front. Rogue could see she was concerned and maybe even a little rattled by the girls behavior. It didn't actually comfort her either.

When she didn't respond again, Jubilee cut in. "Maybe she doesn't talk."

"I talk." The girl finally said and Rogue was surprised by how soft spoken and young she sounded. She couldn't be older then, fourteen, fifteen maybe. "I just ..." The girl looked around the car again. "I don't have a home."

Rogue wasn't surprised by that. This girl had drifter written all over her. They'd run into many mutants like her over the years. Kids, who like herself, had run away from home or got kicked out when their mutation surfaced. But with the Professor gone, it was harder to find them. To take them in and take care of them.

"There's this place. Where we live. It's a place for mutants. If you want, you can come with us." Rogue said, knowing it was the right thing to do.

The girl seemed skeptical though.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to. But we can get you something to eat, some new clothes maybe."

"A shower." Jubilee added and Rogue gave her a stern look in reply.

"Why?" The girl asked and she looked at her in a curious way, as if she had been the first person ever to offer her a kindness. Maybe she was.

"Because ... you saved me. I owe you. And I want to help you." Rogue explained.

The girl seemed to mull that over, then she nodded.

"Good, now what's your name sugar?" Rogue asked, relieved that she could do something to help this girl.

"I don't have a name." She replied with a blank look on her face.

Jubilee said, what Rogue was sure everyone was thinking. "Who the hell doesn't have a name?"

* * *

Every time Gambit walked into Sinister's little sanctuary, he had to stop himself from shivering. The tables and machines were empty for the moment, but he had seen them filled with people one too many times. He briskly walked over to his desk and lay the reports he was delivering down on it.

Sinister looked up from studying some file, his face a blank emotionless mask. Or maybe Gambit just couldn't read that chalk white face or those red eyes, which unlike his own, were devoid of anything even resembling an emotion. He always wondered why, since Sinister had the ability to change his form, he choice this one, which looked part demon part vampire.

"Malice and Scrambler, dey are back. Your presence at the Weapon X program is completely erased." Gambit drawled, not going into the the details which were in the rapport.

"And the weapon?" He asked with a voice that surely belonged in a Hammer Horror movie and not real life.

"The girl." Gambit emphasized just to spite him. "Made contact. Dey are on route to the mansion. Your mind tricks worked."

Sinister smiled at that. "It's harder work then you think, my friend, to condition someone into doing something without them even knowing it. Especially with a mind as focused as that."

And yet it hadn't seemed to take any effort at all. It made Gambit weary of his own thoughts and impulses sometimes, wondering if they were even his own.

"We'll be ready for phase two soon enough." Sinister went on.

"Mais, I still disagree. The school, attackin' it is wrong. Too many mutants, no?" Gambit knew that addressing this again was foolish, but he ain't never been a man driven by his reason and he wasn't gonna start then.

"Too many children, you mean?" Sinister said, his face still unmoving as he spoke. "It is precious of you, Remy, to care for collateral damage."

His red eyes were locked on him now and there was no humanity in them whatsoever and Gambit doubted that there ever had been.

"The children are good." Sinister went on. "They are the weak point of these X-men. They will not risk them getting hurt. No harm will come to them." He said dismissing his concerns.

"Just like no harm would come the Morlock children." Gambit uttered before he could think it through. He immediately regretted it. Questing Sinister was one thing, showing subordination was another.

"Unfortunate, but necessary." Sinister smiled at that, as if it was some happy memory he had.

They were anything but happy for him. He would remember what happened in those tunnels for the rest of his life. There was no absolution that could clear away that.

"Do you doubt me, Remy, after all these years? After I helped you. I saved you and in return you promised to repay that debt."

"An' I have been. Fifty years, Sinister. Fifty years. I have been a good soldier, no?"

"And you are almost done. We cannot falter now, my friend, not when we are so close."

Close to what? Gambit didn't know and Sinister would not share it with anyone, even Malice, his right hand woman was in the dark for as far as their master plan was concerned.

"But if you wish to leave, be my guest. I will not hold it against you."

Gambit doubted that very much. He was stuck, he knew that. He sold his soul to the devil a long long time ago and there was no turning back.

* * *

_"Fascinating. I have never seen a mutants powers grow so, exponentially. Very soon my friend, you'd burn even brighter then the very sun itself."  
_

_"Dey said you could help. Can you? I can pay you, no? Handsomely." _

_"Handsomely, yes. I can help. There will be side effects of course. I can control the energy, but it will need to go somewhere."  
_

_"Where?  
_

_"Into yourself. The energy will sustain you though. Slow aging, speed up healing."  
_

_"And dis is suppose' to be bad? Mon amis, c'est tres bien! Young and strong forever? I would sell ma mère for that."  
_

* * *

"Alors pas. Dey would crash and burn withou' me." Gambit said, playing off his doubts as charmingly as he could. "Malice reports the guards were armed wit' the cure. We should take precautions." He went on, changing the subject back to the reports.

"The cure? We do not need to worry about that. As a weapon against us it is ineffective."

"I have seen the results with mine own eyes. The cure works." Gambit protested.

Sinister smiled at that, as if his concerns were nothing short of adorable. "Let me show you otherwise." He buzzed his intercom. "Send her in now."

Gambit glanced over his shoulder as the door behind him opened. A woman stepped into the room. And what a woman, she appeared to be entirely naked, but for her skin which was a deep hue of blue, scaled at parts to make her look like some sort of exotic animal. In contrast her hair was a fiery red and her eyes a catlike yellow. Gambit shot a questioning look back at Sinister, not knowing what this woman had to do with the cure.

"Mystique here was 'cured' some time ago. A mutant of her level she would have healed over time herself anyway. I simply sped up the progress." Sinister explained.

"Of which I am extremely thankful." The woman replied.

_You say that now, ma chère. _Gambit thought.

"You my friend, would burn through it in a week." Sinister said, turning his attention back to him. "The others less so, but there is nothing I can't fix. So you see, this cure is not our problem. These X-men are. And luckily Mystique knows a great about them and their mansion."

"Den I would love for her to share with the class." Gambit said, glancing over at the woman once more, trying and failing not to stare at certain parts.

"She will, but she has an assignment first. After that you can interrogate her. Thoroughly." Sinister chuckled emotionally at that and the woman raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"I cannot wait." Gambit drawled before taking his leave.


End file.
